New Home Gives Family A New Start

For nearly a year, members of the Feola family have been rebuilding their lives.

And now they have reached a long-awaited chapter. The contracting firm of E. W. Gemme & Sons has spent the past few weeks rebuilding their home.

Only the charred foundation remains as a permanent reminder of the Thanksgiving 2010 fire that devastated their house and their lives.

The Feolas hope to move into their new home by the end of August.

Since the fire, they have lived on a cramped trailer on their property, one they are eager to move from.

“Just seeing the house built, it gives you that security back,’’ Lori Feola said.  “I’m just so happy. After all the horrors, I’m getting my house back.

The house will be a new home for Lori and her husband, Tom, who works for the Framingham Department of Public Works, and their children, Matthew, 11, and Brendon, 20.

The family decided to build up this time, replacing the finished basement with a second floor with rooms for Lori and John, Brandon and Matthew.

Matthew was the hero of the Thanksgiving fire. He and his cousin, Kyle Gifford, had left the dinner table to play outside, when they noticed flames. They alerted the family, who fled the home.

Their speedy warning may have saved lives. Within minutes, all that was left of Matthew’s bedroom was a charred bedspring.

For weeks afterward, as the investigation continued, the dining room table sat just as it had been left, complete with uneaten plates of food.

This Thanksgiving, dinner will be served in a new home. Feola still cringes at the thought of the holiday.

“We’ll try it again,’’ she said. “I’ll never forget that day. It’s always going to be a bad day.’’

She remains grateful that no one was injured, or worse. But she mourns the loss of photo albums and other priceless memories that went up in smoke that day.

Still, the new home means a new beginning, one the entire family cannot wait to see.

“You just start fresh and start all over again,’’ she said. “I’m so excited.’’